


The hunt

by Kathee_HDS



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29587827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kathee_HDS/pseuds/Kathee_HDS
Summary: Monsters come through portals to hunt, but who's the hunter and who's the prey?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. The Creature

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Skizoraven (Quezsam)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quezsam/gifts).



> Per en Misha <3 
> 
> Based on your art: "Consider this... Shy huge dangerous-looking monster... flirty smol human..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It's my first job in the human world and they'd told me they'd cower before me, but this one just says the weirdest things that make me blush, and my horns pulse whenever they touch me. This wasn't in my "travel through dimensions" booklet, not that I'm complaining *wraps tail around their waist*”

The air is dry, it makes my skin bristle under the harsh lights of the transportation chamber. Shifting my weight between my feet and my tail, I look forward to getting out of this room, either through a portal or back the corridor and into the academy’s lake. The hissing voice of the boss bounces between the assembled squad.

"Humans are mere cattle" the words slither through their teeth. Their whole spiked body is covered in jaws, making it hard to know where the teeth end and the spikes begin.

“Their skin is soft and they’re easy to rip at the seams...” They pointed at the diagram’s joints ”either for fast consumption or easy transportation. Their senses are dull, they are easily deceived, and generally useless against most kinds of attack”. With wide strides they cover the length of the floor and stop again, commandeering the full attention of the room.

With razorlike claws they wave a worn instruction booklet in front of us, some of their mouths set in fierce smiles, others unhinged and ready to bite. "They do sense fear, but they can feel it too." Several tongues lick lipless jaws, as they continue: "The more scared a human is, the tastier it becomes."

The boss pauses for effect, as they sometimes would, and begins again, a mere whisper. "But there are some humans out there that eat us; Their skin becomes sturdier, their bones denser, and their raw flesh is the most delicious of all."

The hums and nods of the rest of my group barely register over my hunger to prove myself.

"Remember this well, before you leave: Once a human sees you it's kill or be killed. Eat or be eaten. And our division has the standing record for the least deaths, at least by human hands"

At this their scales glisten, the darkened maroon a reminder of the rumours that it's not their natural hue, but the dried blood of our predecessors. 

They stop in front of each of the operatives before they leave, and too soon they’re facing me. 

"I won't have our record besmirched. Understood?" Breath puffs all around their body, each jaw exhaling at once.

Were I to say I'm not the most outgoing of my class, I'd be being too generous. I can hardly string two words together when teachers and professionals direct their senses at me, much less when they’re hovering two inches over my feelers. However, I am confident in my homeroom teacher’s assessment on my horns and tail being fit for swift human hunting. My membrane requires humid climates, so that's where I’ve been assigned: A village of marshes where I can easily hide underwater, my horns sensing the closest environment, while my infrared vision reaches wider areas.

I shakingly nod towards my boss and with a sway of my tail I open the portal that will lead me to the village I'm set to haunt. 

My limbs welcome the humid atmosphere as soon as I drop on the damp leaves, in a clearing dimly lit by the waxing moon.

Soon enough I find myself diving into the marsh and, after a round of recon, I find a comfortable place under a tree's roots, which allows me to lay low, only the tip of my horns breaking the surface of the water, scanning for prey.

There are enough morsels waddling across and beneath the water that I can confidently wait for over a month before I start to feel truly hungry, so I cradle myself between the roots and lie in wait, the memory of fresh human flesh tiding me over the boredom of the stake-out.

The sun makes its rounds day after day, its light swirling around the pond and heating my limbs from their nightly torpor, as humans swim over me. They let themselves float and relax, unknowing of the danger lurking beneath them, but they never seem to swim alone.

The moon is at its highest and darkest on the night an unknown, lone presence makes its way across the marshes, unwittingly headed towards my tree. 

The rhythmic sound of the oar paddling as the canoe treads across the surface, stopping near trees, inspecting for monsters, I assume, gets my muscles tightening ready to strike. The wait is over.

Once the clueless human has passed over me, I rise from the depths, setting one claw on each side of the, surprisingly flimsy, canoe.

The wood creaks under my weight, and for a moment the human seems to freeze, their breath hitches and the oar snaps under the pressure of their knuckles. 

"Why, hello", they say, their voice surprisingly level. The human turns at me, and even though I know my body melds within the darkness, I feel their hungry eyes rove my claws, arms, throat and horns. 

"This is where you scream'' my memory supplies after a beat, and they start breathing again.

"I'd offer you to board my boat, but I don't think we can both fit", they chuckle.

"No screams?" My mind offers again, quite unhelpfully.

The human approaches slightly, and lands their hand on my claw. My first instinct is to rip it, but I’m known for trying to avoid conflict whenever possible, so I just stay still. There was nothing about this on my “Travel Through Dimensions” booklet, and I’m completely lost.  
Their fingers start making their way upwards, and while my boss' voice screams in my head "it's kill or be killed", my claws remain locked. My skin tingling where their skin meets mine, my horns pulsing in response.

"Well aren't you a beautiful creature" they mutter, sliding their fingers across my clavicle.

"I could scream for you" I hear them say, “...If that’s what you wanted”, they add. But that can’t be right. That’s not the proper response, as per the guide.

We're at a distance where any weapon could reach my soft, exposed stomach, but it's their other hand that moves forward, hot to the touch, making its way up my right arm to set on my shoulder.

I figure I still have my back claws as defense, but since they're underwater and -barely- keeping me on my talons, I raise my tail to threaten the human, who's been, by now, too forward, too unafraid for their own good. Is this one of the ones who eats people like me? Is their strength powered by that of my own kind? 

As my tail slithers around their waist, up their chest towards their throat, I can feel their breath stop, mouth agape, pupils dilated and heart thrumming the melody of the delicious blood flowing under their skin. But they don’t seem afraid.

"Look at you, so powerful, so dangerous, so... Broad" That last word, merely a whisper, has a reverent tone I’ve never had describe me before. “So… slick…”

Their still too hot hands keep roaming every inch of my skin they can reach, and I feel the rest of drilled teachings leave my brain.

"Come with me to the shore" they say, and I comply, propelling the canoe with my hind limbs until we reach an isolated cabin behind a mangrove swamp.

As they trudge inside, I sit on the pier, my skin dripping rhythmically on the wooden floorboards, talons breaking the surface of the water and mind adrift.

I really thought I'd be more articulate interacting with humans than with my colleagues, but I'd clearly misjudged the situation. This human was nothing like what I’ve been taught. Hell, judging by all the clatter they’re probably getting their carving knives ready. 

The unmistakable sound of meat ripping is barely heard over the frogs by the canoe, and makes me think about swimming back to the gate. But reaching the threshold without a prey makes you the night's menu, and that is most certainly not in my immediate plans. So I patiently wait by the human's pier, hoping this death will be more merciful, as opposed to what would await back at the academy, yet dreading that my strength will be used against those who come after me.

The wooden door creaks open, and the human steps out, frozen in fear at my full form, or so I think.

They leave a bucket full of fresh meat by the door, and approach me, no doubt in their eyes nor tremble in their step.

"You... Are the single, most gorgeous being I've ever seen cross that gate" They say, breathless, staring at my horns, their hand caressing my maw.

"I would like to keep you, if you want to keep me"

It is I who finds themself frozen in place now, long-range infrared scanner focused on the being before me, and unable to speak.

"It would not entail nothing you weren't amenable to..." Their other hand reaches towards my tail, and it coils around their arm as if it had a mind of its own.

"I-I'm the monster here- I hold the power"

I slide my tongue through my barbed teeth and coil it around their throat, feeling again their pulse. Not too tight to choke, but not loose enough to let them escape.

"Well that's up for debate" their hand slides down my maw and rests on my throat, mirroring my tongue. I could eat them now. Before they eat me.

"Will you stay?"

I think I will.


	2. The Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV swap

Just as the moon reaches the exact midpoint of its waxing phase, I feel the portal open. It’s far too soon for another hunt, my supplies are in dire need of replenishing.

I head out through the woods, enshrouded in a thick monster hide cape, carrying naught but a basket and a scythe. 

The presence does not spend much time on the forest, and by the time I arrive at the clearing where the portal activates every moon cycle I find nothing but damp leaves in disarray, and the shrooms around the clearing brimming with transdimensional gleam. 

I harvest each and every one of the shrooms, taking care not to damage their roots, as I follow the path the monster took into the lake. 

There are some algae and snails shining with the same gleam, so I run my scythe across the edge of the water, setting every ingredient in a different jar, careful as to not upset the water’s surface. One single ripple and they would be on me -not that I’d care, I smile to myself.

Striding towards my cabin I pass the portal again, and inspect the area trying to figure out which kind of monster has crossed through this time. The footprints show talons that dive deep into the ground, big enough to rip a throat without much thought. They seem to be biped, the leaves pushed to the sides as if by the swish of a tail. This one might just be the one, I think, as I ponder on how many eyes will they have, and where. 

Will they be outright aggressive? Or will they play the long game? How many people will fall prey to their claws before I stop them? I cradle my arm, the last battle’s wounds prickling as the skin slowly knits back together. Monster meat has regenerative properties, and their blood mixed with mud makes a panacea salve the people have come to rely on me for.

The cabin is as I left it, untrespassed. I set today’s harvest to dry over the furnace, and start counting the days. Nothing left to do until the full moon, unless there is an attack before.

Each morning I sit on my pier, feet hovering right over the water, watching the villagers swim and splash without a care. Each night I polish my tools and eye the coast, wary for any young couple reckless enough to bathe and frolic under the moonlight.

But the full moon comes and goes, and other than the harvesting and drying of seasonal ingredients, there’s still no sign of the monster.

On that night, I roamed the forest shielded with my cape, armed with my blood-infused daggers, nary a whisper of the monster to be sensed. 

The wait grinds on me, and as the nights grow darker I’m more assured that my monster will wait until the darkest night to emerge. I ready my tools for the moonless night, and board my canoe just as the last of the sun hides behind the horizon.

It’s hunt time. 

It’s also harvest time, and I paddle from tree to tree, through my mangle grove and into the swamps, taking cuttings of sleep leaves and pulling bark from headache trees. I empty the gum sap taps into jars, their smell calming my nerves. I prepare several small sap traps and hide them in my sleeves, pockets and boots. I pull the oar out and row my way to the tree that stands in the middle of the lake.

I pull the oar out of the water and close my eyes, trying to sense the ripples in the water when the monster comes to me. But there are no ripples, just an unexpected added weight in the back of my canoe, and the oar snaps under my fingers. I know this is my last mistake.

“Why, hello!” I turn to the monster and they’re darker than the night, their claws glistening like my daggers, their arms thicker than my legs, their horns a void against the starry sky.

This is going to be my best mistake yet.

“This is where you scream” the monster articulates, the sounds coming from their jagged maw like a siren song. Oh I’d scream for them, if they let me.

"I'd offer you to board my boat, but I don't think we can both fit", a nervous chuckle escapes my throat, tight with the desire to touch that smooth skin.

“No screams?” They repeat, and the temptation is too great not to feel those claws, even if it’s the last thing I do. My hand moves upwards of its own accord, and I’m frankly surprised it’s still attached to the rest of my arm. The adrenaline makes me bold, and I speak as my hand keeps travelling across the heavily hydrated skin. 

"Well aren't you a beautiful creature" Its clavicle flinches under my touch, and all I want is to feel more of them.

"I could scream for you" I hear myself say, “...If that’s what you wanted”, caressing their other claw, leaving my front exposed to any attack. Not my brightest move, but all thoughts flee my head when their tail wraps around my waist, its tip lightly caressing my throat.

I lose track of what I’m saying, too high to even understand what I say, until I feel the canoe stop by my cabin. I’ve led them here, given away the location of my secret homebase, and I couldn’t care less.

They wait outside, the drip of water from their slick body onto the worn wooden planks both tethering me to reality and driving me slowly mad, one drop at a time.

I wouldn’t mind if they ate me, but I’d rather not. I want them to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it!


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